Peer-to-Peer (P2P) File Sharing

There can be grave consequences for those who engage in illegal sharing of copyrighted material. This FAQ is meant to help you understand what is legal and what isn’t. Engaging in illegal file sharing activity will result in Internet access being removed until you contact the IT department.Illegal file sharing of copyrighted material via peer-to-peer (P2P) applications or other means is a serious offense and can lead to College disciplinary actions as well as criminal and civil penalties.

In most cases, it is illegal to upload or download copyrighted material without the owner’s express permission, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) and others are actively tracking and seeking damages against these copyright infringements.

Crowder College seeks to deter the use of peer-to-peer file transfers for illegal purposes up to and including the implementation of technology-deterrent applications that could monitor traffic content.

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) was signed into law on August 14, 2008. Regulations for implementing the Act were issued by the Department of Education, to be effective July 1, 2010. Crowder College has been following an in-house process for dealing with DMCA notices in a timely manner, information on this process is available here .

Several sections of the HEOA deal with unauthorized file sharing on campus networks, imposing three general requirements on all US colleges and universities:

>> A plan to “effectively combat the unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials” by users of its network, including “the use of one or more technology-based deterrents”, and periodic reviews of the plan and its success (metrics) on the limiting of illegal copyrighted distribution.

>>A plan to “offer alternatives to illegal downloading.”

>>An annual disclosure to students describing copyright law and campus policies related to violating copyright law.

For further information on exactly what peer-to-peer transactions are, how they work and why they can cause illegal content to be transferred, please visit the following site: 7 Things You Should Know About P2P.